2016: It’s Worth a Try

It’s 2016, and I’m back!  Wow, it’s been almost a year, which kind of tells me my previous form of blogging, while an awesome chronicle of Hailey’s younger years and great fun to write, is not sustainable at this point in our lives.  Honestly, I’m lucky to be at the computer right now and at any moment I might have to stop and then accidentally not come back for 10 months! (I called it!  Juliet is currently throwing a fit because I won’t let her eat my headphones).

So, I’m going to try to do things a little bit differently.  I’ll still try to share stories about my crazy children, because, they crazy… but I need something else to really force me to come back here once in a while despite the aforementioned craziness.  I figure it’s a new year and it’s time to try a few new things.  Instead of struggling through many days, I want to see if I can make a few changes and see if those changes yield some positive changes in my day-to-day life.  I mean, I can’t complain too much.  I have two darling (mostly) children, and I’m lucky (?) enough to stay home with them.  I teach a couple of Stroller Strides classes a week, and that has kept me in shape and helped me meet an amazing group of moms I love.  However….

Being a stay-at-home mom is not all sunshine and roses.  Sometimes there are skunks in those roses.  (Like, literally, but I’ll get back to that). As you may recall, Hailey was a pretty independent, even-keeled, not super affectionate child.  Juliet on the other hand… well, let’s just say she’s making up for that.  Her goal in life seems to be to never ever be more than a foot from me.  Usually she’s sitting on me, or attempting to sit on me, or hugging me.  I know, it sounds cute, and sometimes it is.  I’m not going to to pretend I don’t love our snuggle sessions, but… it makes it challenging to do… anything.  Our biggest problems these days are meals. I have trouble making them (what with all the screaming), and the girls have trouble eating them.  Other struggles include the insane mess that is our house (they are human tornadoes!), me maintaining my sanity (what’s left of it), weaning Juliet off her pacifier, navigating the public school system and extra curricular activities, trying to find time to train for a marathon and the usual stuff like making it through the day.  I’m sure there are things I could be doing to take off some of the stress, so I’m going to experiment and see what works.

But first I thought I’d try to catch you all up a little bit – here are a few things that happened in 2015, in no particular order.

• Hailey graduated from preschool and started Transitional Kindergarten at our local public elementary school and I subsequently had a few emotional breakdowns

• I signed up for a marathon and by the end of the year successfully completed a 16-mile run without dying

• I became a certified Stroller Strides instructor and started teaching a few classes for Fit4Mom Torrance – it’s awesome!

• Juliet started walking and talking
• Bodie ate some raisins and had to be dramatically rushed to the vet, Bodie scratched his eye, twice, and finally, Bodie made friends with the skunk that may or may not still be living in our backyard and got sprayed in the face, twice

• We flew with both kids to Oregon to visit cousins and we survived

• Juliet took a Gymboree-style play and movement class and I learned that she is incredibly territorial and not the social butterfly her sister is…
• My BFF Erin took me on a fabulous wine tour for my 33rd birthday

• We got all fancy and went to two fabulous weddings

• I ran my third half-marathon and got a new PR

• I did all of my Christmas shopping online
• Hailey played her first fall season of AYSO soccer

• Hailey had a Dinosaur Train themed birthday party

• Juliet celebrated her first birthday party with her family and learned to say “balloon”

• Juliet pooped in the bathtub and handed it to me
• Our Christmas tree fell over
• Many of my close friends had adorable new babies

Issue #1 – The Chronically Messy House

So, the first problem I’m trying to tackle is the house.  We managed to get all of the Christmas paraphernalia put away, except for the Santa place mats and cookie tins I just found…sigh.  I even tried to be good and not just randomly jam things in the boxes.  I don’t know why my first instinct is to think, oh, I’ll just deal with this garbage next year, and put it back in the box rather than throwing it away.  Like, am I trying to punk someone?  I know it’s me who’s going to open those boxes next year, right??

Anyway, I’ve determined that the human tornadoes are creating such an insane mess because we have way way way too much crap.  I think Aaron is a secret hoarder, and I’m not the best at getting rid of stuff either.  It’s so hard to get over the “what if I need this some day?” mentality.  I also tend to have trouble getting rid of all the random little trinkets Hailey accumulates.  Sometimes it’s okay to throw away the 20th tiny bottle of bubbles she brings home… and I probably don’t need a zillion sippy cups that Juliet won’t touch.  So, this week I’m trying to go through the house, room by room and see what can go.  I’m even going to try to sort out some of it, and if I really get my act together, maybe try to sell off a few things.  My goal is to report back on my progress in a week.

Well, it’s probably time for me to go, as the girls have gone insane.  As I type Hailey is playing with the giant box that has allowed me to write this post at all, Juliet is walking around with a tray and a plastic hamburger patty in her mouth.

Also in the background this week: I’m trying to really limit Juliet’s pacifier usage to nap time and bedtime.  I’m not going to lie – it’s terrible.

Up next: Juliet’s eating habits and how it’s all a secret plan to drive me even further out of my mind.

Some closing thoughts:

• It’s really hard to de-clutter when your recycling bin is totally full and trash day isn’t until Thursday and therefore there is a giant pile of recyclable garbage taking up half your kitchen.
• Picking up a child from a school with no parking lot in the rain while holding another small child requires a lot of patience
• “Stop copying me!” has become something I hear every day

 

Challenge Accepted: I Let Hailey Dress Me for a Week

After my last post, a friend shared an article in which a mom let her three-year-old son choose her clothes for a week.  I took this as a not-so-subtle challenge, so I did it.  Last week, I let Hailey choose all of my clothes.

This mom’s situation was a little different than mine.  She always chose her son’s outfits and wanted to see what that felt like.  We let Hailey choose her clothes 95% of the time.  She even chooses which clothes we buy, so technically she shouldn’t even own any clothes she doesn’t like.  I decided that we would mix things up a little bit I presented it to Hailey as a deal: She could choose my clothes for a week, and I would choose hers.  She accepted and woke up very excited on Monday morning to rummage through my closet.

The ground rules were that I would wear anything she suggested, within reason.  The outfits had to be weather appropriate and situation appropriate (this only came up once).  Anytime I had to guide her a little bit I always got her approval first.  I also decided I wasn’t really going to talk about it much outside of home.  I didn’t want to put myself into a closed mindset where I automatically explained away her choices.

So, without further ado:

Monday

I’ll admit it.  I was scared.  One of Hailey’s favorite outfits is comprised of teal shorts and a red Cars shirt.  I have a pair of green pants in my closet…  She was thrilled to open the closet Monday morning and went straight for the dresses.  I told her I needed a sweater.

Hailey chose this dress because she liked the black and white stripes.  She chose the sweater because she likes red.  I was impressed.  I hadn’t thought to wear this dress after I stopped working, but why not?  It felt pretty good to put on something that wasn’t ratty yoga pants and a stretched out shirt.  Naturally this was the day we didn’t have anything planned, so the outfit was a bit wasted, but I’ll definitely wear this one again!

I chose this outfit for Hailey because she specifically asked for those pants at Target and then never wore them.  I was slightly surprised that she had absolutely no problem wearing whatever outfit I chose for her.

Tuesday

Well, okay.  I bought this shirt to wear to Comic Con and while it isn’t usually part of my normal rotation, I guess it was okay.  When I told Hailey I needed a sweater she went for this one, which again was a little odd, but ok.  She was quite insistent on these old jeans and these shoes, which I thought went with the look pretty well!

I made Hailey wear leggings because I love them, and she doesn’t. Muah ha ha.

Wednesday

Oh, Wednesday… I don’t even know WHERE Hailey found this gem.  It’s an old ultimate frisbee jersey from college.  Sigh.  I did NOT feel cute on Wednesday and was glad no one at preschool questioned this mess.

Look how cute Hailey looks in her poofy headband!!

Thursday

On Thursday Hailey dug out my old wrinkly Playa Del Rey shirt and capri jeans.  Nothing too great, but nothing crazy either.  I figured we should match and she wore her aqua “I Love My Grandpa” shirt and jean shorts.  Did I mention is was really, really hot on Thursday?

Friday

On Friday we had to go to a Valentine’s Day party at Hailey’s school, so in theory I wanted to look both a) not insane, and b) not like a total mess.   Hailey initially wanted me to wear a pink workout shirt, but then revised her choice when I told her I wasn’t going to work out.  This is another shirt I haven’t worn outside of the office and I’m not sure why – I felt good in it!  I was even inspired to fix my hair!

Hailey (and Juliet for that matter) wore their matching “I’m With Cupid” T-shirts (thanks, Auntie Erin!) and the pajama pants from some matching Christmas PJ’s.  Hailey had no qualms about wearing PJ pants to school!

Saturday

Shame on me.  I forgot to take a Saturday picture!  In my defense, we had to leave the house early for Hailey’s soccer game and then we had Nana and Grampy visiting.  There was a lot going on and the photo completely slipped my mind.  I did however let Hailey choose my clothes.  I wore khaki cargo pants and my pink and white striped v-neck t-shirt with my running shoes, since I walked to the game.  It was Valentine’s Day proper, so Hailey chose pink.  Hailey wore her soccer t-shirt and shorts.

Sunday

Sunday was the last day of our deal and Hailey immediately decided I needed to wear a dress (in celebration??).  She went for this one because it had zig zags.  I told her I was cold so she chose a purple cardigan.  I bought this dress for a bridal shower right after Juliet was born.  I don’t exactly have the same body I did then, so now the dress doesn’t fit quite right.  It was fun to wear a dress on a weekend, but I didn’t feel very comfortable in it.

Hailey got to wear her U of A shirt because Grampy and Nana were visiting and the game was on!  She was thrilled.

* * *

Overall, it was a good week!  Hailey woke up happy every morning and her role as my personal stylist (or maybe it was just the opportunity to control me) made for cheerful and enthusiastic mornings.  I kind of liked not having to deal with choosing my clothes, and I LOVED having the opportunity to dress Hailey.  I was very surprised how readily she allowed me to dress her.  We’re talking about a child I once physically could not get a shirt onto because she didn’t like it (it was white with black stripes – how dare I??).

Hailey actually inspired me to switch up my wardrobe a bit.  There’s no reason I have to dress like it’s laundry day every day.  Why not wear some of my old work clothes?  Why not throw on a nice sundress and sweater?  Whey do I have shirts with holes in them?

I think I also gained some empathy for Hailey.  It always pissed me off when she would refuse to wear something in her drawer that she picked out at the store.  Well, I think I picked out everything in my closet and I there are a lot of things in there I don’t want to wear, for whatever reason.  If I can’t articulate why I still own things I won’t wear, how can I expect her to?  Also, why do I have clothes in my closet I wont’ wear??  I think the most important thing is that we feel comfortable in our clothes and they make us feel good about ourselves.

I’m glad Hailey has a strong sense of personal style and knows what makes her happy.  All in all, it was a pretty fun week.  I might even hire Hailey again sometime.  🙂

AYSO Soccer: Hailey’s First Game

On Saturday Hailey started the AYSO soccer spring season.  It was… interesting!  The important thing is that Hailey had a good time, but, Hailey being Hailey- the morning was not without it quirks!

Aaron heard about a spring soccer league and we decided it would be a good activity for Hailey.  The main selling points were that the games are at a middle school about a quarter or a mile from our house, and that it’s pretty inexpensive.  Plus, Aaron and I both played in our youth.  Perhaps we should have noticed a few red flags, like the fact that they told us to put in a different birthday for Hailey so she would be technically old enough (they wanted you to turn 4 before September, much like school), or that the spring season is really just a continuation of the fall season, meaning most of the teams were already established, and that in the spring you get a T-shirt and not a uniform.  But, these things didn’t seem like TOO big of a big deal.

For Hailey, the best part of all this was shopping for accessories.  We needed cleats and shin guards!  I decided to go to Big 5 and get the cheapest stuff they had, since Hailey would likely grow out of it quickly.  Perhaps it should have been a clue that they only had one pair of cleats in a children’s size 9?  Thank goodness they were black.  They also had some lovely green and blue shin guards, so Hailey was happy.  We were helped by a very nice gentleman named Aaron, who had a 5-year-old daughter at home and was thankfully very patient with my very particular shopper.

Flash forward to Saturday morning.  Aaron drove Hailey to the Middle School and I walked with Juliet in the BOB.  I think by the time they parked we got there at roughly the same time.  It looked like there were about 3-4 other girls on Hailey’s team.  They all looked massive compared to her.  It’s strange – at home sometimes Hailey looks so grown up to me. She looks big and mature and just old!  But, there at the soccer field, she looked tiny and so, so young.

I guess in this league they just start playing.  There’s no practice.  There’s no touchy-feely meet and greet with the other team members or the coach.  You throw on a jersey and the whistle blows and it’s game on.  I felt like I was throwing my poor baby into the deep end of the pool without swimming lessons.  It was three on three and these girls were dribbling the ball!  They were kicking.  They were scoring goals.  They did throw-ins!  Hailey ran around with them, not unlike a chicken with her head cut off… not really playing the game but at least not drowning.

I could barely watch.  I started having flashbacks to my years in sports.  This may shock you, but I was never particularly good, and I knew it.  It sucked to never score a goal and to feel like I didn’t belong on the team.  My heart ached for Hailey.  The other girls weren’t passing to her.  She was barely touching the ball.  When the first quarter ended the coach subbed her out first.  We used the time to explain to Hailey which way she should kick the ball and the fact that they were trying to score goals and who was on her team. I complained to Aaron about the Amazon-sized girl on the opposing team who looked like she could beat me.  It also didn’t help that there was a little girl on the other team also named Hailey.  Both Haileys were thoroughly confused.

I suppose Hailey will learn quickly with this trial-by-fire method.  We do at least have a practice scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.  I hope we aren’t traumatizing Hailey by starting her too young.  She did say that she had fun, though she didn’t like that she had to let other people on her team play too.  I hope she learns how fun it is to be a part of a team, and that she makes some new friends.  I hope she finishes the season with a general understanding of game of soccer, and I hope she actually gets to touch the ball a few times.

This is Hailey standing next to the next smallest girl on her team…

Here’s Hailey asking a question while the rest of her team was ready to play. I think she was asking the coach about his footwear choice.

Seriously – this girl was playing against Hailey. This girl is like 12.

Sunscreen break!

Hailey got tired after the game and probably overwhelmed. Some snuggling with Daddy was in order.

It’s All About Hailey

This morning when I was browsing Facebook on my phone and saw someone post something about a groundhog, I realized it was February.  When on earth did that happen?  Yikes.  So, in honor of it already being February and me generally having no idea what the date is at any given time, I thought it was time to write a little post about what the Chaison sisters are up to these days.

Let’s start with Hailey.  Hailey is now FOUR YEARS old.  Hailey acts like she’s FIFTEEN years old.  She sighs, she stomps her foot in protest, she talks back in an irritated tone, she slams doors, she demands privacy and is incredibly specific and opinionated about her clothes and sense of personal style.  What on earth am I going to do when this girl is a real teenager?  Eek!  Parenting a 4-year-old pre-teen also has it’s good moments.  We often forget she truly is 4 because of the conversations she’s able to have.  She asks amazingly intelligent (if painfully detailed and repetitive) questions and has a true thirst for knowledge.  And my goodness, she is still quite the social butterfly.  I have never experienced a child quite like Hailey.  I’ll explain in a few quick anecdotes:

• On our walk a few weeks ago we passed a man working in his garage.  After he politely and customarily said hello, Hailey responded with, “Hello.  Would you like to join us on your walk?”  The poor man was completely taken aback and stammered that he had some work to do.  “Okay,” replied Hailey, “you can join us when you’re done.”
• At any given store, while checking out Hailey will do one of the following: Ask for the manager, ask for a sticker, question the lack of stickers, inquire about the structure of the counter, the cash register, or the store, tell the cashier about HER cash register (in great detail), discuss fashion, and of course, ask the checker for their name and then give a fake name (depending on who’s identity she is assuming that day).
• At the playground, Hailey tends to find a kid she likes, then attaches herself to their parent if the child isn’t fun enough (or turns out to be too young to play with her).  She will then talk to them relentlessly and ask them to play with her
• It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve met Hailey or if you have ever met her before.  If you speak to her, she is your best friend.
• Hailey will talk to absolutely anyone.  At the park, Hailey and her friend were concerned that another kid was playing with their toy.  Hailey solved the problem by tapping the mom on the back, and explaining that we needed the toy back because we were leaving.  Boom, problem solved.
• Last weekend at a brunch, Hailey informed our waiter that his restaurant was “too boring.”
• I had to bring Hailey to my dental appointment last week and I’m surprised the poor dentist could concentrate at all with the amount of questions Hailey was pelting at her.  Hailey was also a little disappointed that she wasn’t having her teeth cleaned.  After I got my crown Hailey questioned me about it relentlessly.
• Hailey tells random passerby that her name is Grandpa, or that she’s Frog.
• Our overly chatty neighbor does the move where he backs away slowly to his front door when he sees Hailey coming and she starts talking.
• Hailey has never been upset about being dropped off at school.  I usually don’t even say goodbye because she’s already busy doing something when I walk out of the room.  She would be completely fine being babysat by someone she’d never met.
• While at the Time Warner Cable Service Center, Hailey demanded to see the customer service rep’s umbrella (it was raining that day), and somehow walked out with a free remote control to play with…
• We did a two-week trial of a karate class and we decided not to continue it because Hailey wouldn’t stop asking the instructor questions.  Why was his robe black and not white?  Why did it have a patch and hers didn’t?  Why do you have to bow when you enter the Dojo?  Why were the other kids sparring?  Why wasn’t SHE sparring?  Why were they wearing helmets?  Where was HER helmet?
• It takes us well over an hour to eat dinner every night.  It’s hard to eat when you NEVER STOP TALKING.

Hailey’s sense of fashion is always interesting.  I’ve given up shopping for her without her being present.  I can’t tell what she’ll like, and if she doesn’t like something, she will NOT wear it.  Right now she seems to be into shirts with letters and words on them.  There can’t be excessive ruffles or frills or pink.  She loves green, but not green with polka dots.  She recently chose a color blocked T-shirt dress at Gymboree that was navy blue and orange.  Apparently orange is on the approved color list.  If she wears her overalls she has to accessorize them with her train engineer hat.  When we’re home she always has some sort of “dress up” on.

I really admire Hailey’s confidence.  She knows what she likes and she knows what she wants, and she knows how to get it.  She’s independent and un-afraid.  She’s creative and imaginative and sometimes that comes at the expense of my sanity, but hey, what are you gonna do?

I’m super proud of what an amazing big sister Hailey has been.  I often catch myself saying that we can’t do something because of Juliet, or because Juliet needs something different, and Hailey never complains.  She delivers diapers and bottles and food and oh my goodness, does she make that baby laugh!  Juliet’s eyes light up when she sees her big sister.

This kid definitely keeps things interesting… Next time we’ll talk about her sister!

Bye Bye 2014!

Disclaimer: This post was written a few weeks ago and I was interrupted by children.  I know, you are shocked!  Anyway, I’m trying to get this blog more up-to-date and I figured I should post this one first!

***

Well my goodness, 2014 was an eventful year.  This was a year in which I lost both of my grandfathers, and Aaron lost his second grandfather.  I’m very thankful they all lived long lives and I’m so grateful that I had good relationships with them and have a ton of really wonderful memories.  Now I get to experience the grandparent-grandchild relationship through the eyes of my children, and that’s been a really special experience.

This was a year where we almost lost my father-in-law but miraculously did not.  Things could have gone very differently and I cannot express how lucky we all are that we still have him in our lives.

Lest we lose the year to sadness, this was also the year in which we welcomed Juliet into the family, and Hailey and Juliet have a new little cousin, Ryder!  What a roller coaster.  Now that I have two kids I don’t remember what it was like to have only one.  What on earth did I ever complain about?

This was the first full year I had as a stay-at-home mom and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It has been challenging beyond my wildest dreams, but there is nowhere I would rather be and I’m so glad I have the opportunity to spend these years with the kids.   The bottom line is that I wasn’t happy at work and though things are a bit tight financially these days (oye, Los Angeles…), I am much happier now!  I do wish I had a part of my life that wasn’t all about the kids and maybe made me a little money, but that will come and for now, keeping up with the two of them demands all of my attention!

So, we ended the year with Christmas at our hose for the very first time!  I felt like such an adult!  Both of our parents and Seana and RJ and Ryder came out and saved us having to schlep all kids of baby gear and gifts down to Oceanside.  I loved having an excuse to decorate the house and it was a ton of fun, coming from a rather small family, I had a blast having a ton of people all around our little house.

We are currently in the process of taking down all of our Christmas decor.   I feel like our house is going to look so sad and naked.  We’re also trying to find places for all of our new loot!  I’m trying to make sure that everything has a place so that when the tornado that is Hailey goes through the house, it’s easy to clean up again… We’ll see how well that works out.  So, here are a few photo highlights from the holidays.  For some reason (I think it had to do with all of the children needing care and the hosting duties, I don’t have very many pictures of Christmas day!

I am so proud of myself for getting Christmas cards out this year.  One day – I must have just finished a strong cup of coffee or something – I decided to just make it happen.  I think I was motivated by a coupon for Snapfish.  I dressed up the girls in their adorable matching owl pajamas, grabbed my phone and took a zillion pictures until I got one that worked.  Special thanks to Hailey for helping me with Juliet (who, believe it or not was crazy tired and super close to a meltdown), and to Juliet, who just NEVER STOPS smiling.  I stayed up late that night making and ordering the cards and when they came I addressed them very quickly and sent them out!  I think somewhere in there I learned a lesson about procrastination, but I’m not sure what it was…

Several of the pictures turned out like this and several were completely unusable because Hailey is constantly sucking in her lips for pictures. Sigh.

All the ladies love Grandpa!

 

Hailey has been working hard on her writing skills. Grandpa told her how to spell words (which is scary) and she wrote out a shopping list.

The first step to crawling is being able to hold this position – she’s getting close!

 

This is what happens when I ask Hailey to play with Juliet while she’s in the Jumperoo. Sigh…

 

Juliet and her crawling coach.

 

Here we are visiting the local Christmas lighted neighborhood spectacular. I think we can make it to this level next year…

 

There were a few times this season where I felt a lot like this guy…

 

We definitely need a light-up ferris wheel in our yard next year!

Of COURSE there was a Frozen display. Aaron felt they won the neighborhood decor award because they were pandering.

Look mommy, daddy – Mater!!!! (Awwwwwww)

This is down the street from us. Big enough Rudolph for ya?

 

Cutest. Santa. Ever.

Presents for ME??? Okay.

Establishing a new holiday tradition: Everyone snuggled on the couch and watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Coming from a small family – I was psyched to have this many stockings hung from our mantle!

Yup, we have an elf… he didn’t move too much this year.

Hailey was old enough to want to leave out cookies and milk for Santa. Christmas is getting more fun with her each year!

Yes, that is Hailey holding a DOLL and smiling. I think she likes Ariel because she’s half fish. And her fin is green.

Super excited we got a BBQ from the parents! Is there anything we cannot grill? We’ll find out!

We really should have just wrapped empty boxes for Juliet.

We didn’t pull out all of the china, but at least we got to use our pretty wine glasses. I think the table looked pretty.

This is Hailey’s new doll bed from Grandpa, for her Baby Juliet (from Santa)

Naturally Juliet’s first trip to Canter’s included munching on a garlic pickle. Mmmm…

Juliet’s new ride-on elephant. Guess who stole it almost immediately?

After Christmas we went down to Oceanside. For some reason Juliet freaked when we tried to put her in the bathtub so she got a nice sink bath instead and as per usual, was adorable!

Hailey got this new Fireman outfit from Auntie Erin and basically didn’t take it off for a week.

This awesome hand me down train set kept Hailey busy for our entire trip to Oceanside. Even Bodie was intrigued!

Juliet got in on the action too – Stop signs make excellent pacifiers!

My parent’s cool neighbors have a rock wall in their garage. After some cajoling, Hailey made it about a foot off the ground. Mostly she just wanted to wear the rock climbing accessories.

 

And a few days after the fireman outfit, Stephanie brought Hailey and policeman outfit (a Village people photo montage may or may not be in the works…).

Who knows what 2015 will bring?

 

Synchronized Screaming

Well, here I am, sitting on the floor in the living room with my laptop wired into the modem because our house seems to hate wireless internet, watching Wall-E with my sick child who just shot out a snot rocket.  For the moment, Juliet is napping, but ugh, I’m already exhausted.

Flashback to yesterday: We were having a pretty decent day.  We went shopping for overpriced bottles at Buy Buy Baby, which is kind of an awesome store, but you have to like spending money… anyway, despite Hailey not taking an afternoon nap and Juliet needing to be rocked to sleep, we did okay.  Aaron had to work late so we were on our own for dinner, and Hailey ate spinach tortellinis in a butternut squash sauce without too much complaining.  I even got a dinnertime poop from Juliet.  All ran fairly smoothly and after a few false starts, I was able to get both children into bed and the dishes washed and the trash to the curb by around 9:30.  Just as I sat back to relax (hah!), I heard Hailey crying for me.  I wasn’t too concerned.  Once in a while Hailey will cry at night because she bumped her head on the wall, or her blanket isn’t flat enough (true story) or something.  This time was different.  She was inconsolable for a while and I could tell  instantly it was because her head and chest were full of snot.  After yelling at me for asking her to tell me what was wrong, she eventually told me her mouth hurt, which is Hailey for my throat hurts.  She also asked me to get the snot out of her nose.  So sad!  I knew she was definitely a mess when she wanted me to lie down with her and hold her hand.  (Context: Usually when I stroke her hair at night she asks me to stop).

Okay, I thought, this sucks, but I can handle this.  I’ll just stay in here with her until she falls asleep.  It was right about then that I heard Juliet begin to stir.  Shit.  I hoped she would fall back asleep, but when Hailey told me she needed to go potty I knew I was screwed.  And yes, the potty sounds woke up Juliet, who was of course, smiling when she saw me, and of course, screamed bloody murder when I left the room.  And there was a fun new dilemma I have found myself dealing with lately: the synchronized screaming.  The double cry.  What do you do?  Do you console the baby because she’s more helpless?  Do you go to the preschooler because her noise is keeping the baby awake?  I knew neither of them were going to settle down without some help, so I gathered them both and went to the living room and basically listened to Hailey whimper on the couch while I nursed Juliet.  Well, Juliet was naturally super awake and ready to party.  All she wanted to do was stare at poor Hailey, so she got to roll around on the floor (again, smiling broadly) while I cuddled with poor Hailey, who was also professing that she was absolutely NOT tired.  Since it was past 11:00 and I saw no end in sight, I called Aaron home.  He worked on getting Juliet back to bed and I stayed with Hailey until she fell asleep again in bed.  Phew – it was well after midnight when I finally got to go to bed.

So today is all about watching Disney movies in our pajamas and loading Hailey up on fluids.  Remarkably she woke up seeming a lot better than she was last night, but she wasn’t well enough for school sadly.  Hopefully we can make it outside for a walk or something later.  And is there any hope at all that the rest of the family escapes this?  I’m pretty sure Hailey coughed directly into my eye last night…

Cloth Diapering: Because What Goes in Must Come Out

So….. I have successfully been talked into cloth diapering by my friend Christel.  Back when Hailey was in diapers, or even a few months ago, I would have laughed at myself until I peed.  Now, it just seems to make a lot of sense.  Diapers are expensive!  I use off-brand items all the time, but I can’t stand Target brand diapers – they seem really stiff and uncomfortable. I hate when I change a diaper and it seemed full, but then actually isn’t all THAT full – I mean, I feel like I’m wasting a diaper, but I don’t really want to put it back on the baby… with cloth diapers, you can change the diaper all the time and you’re not wasting them.  Besides the cost factor, it is nice to think that I’m not contributing as much to the landfills.  But, the number one reason we’re trying this is that Little Miss Juliet is pretty much a clockwork pooper.

Remember when Juliet used to poop like 7 or 8 times a day?  Those days are long past and we recently reached a point where Juliet poops only during dinnertime while sitting in her high chair.  You could almost set your watch by it.  So, before dinner, I throw a disposable diaper on her (I know, I know, the SHAME) and then I toss it when it’s full of poop.  Win, win.  (Yes, I know the EARTH isn’t winning, but I’m not perfect).  Of course in the last week Juliet has been mixing up the schedule a little bit.  For some reason she’s skipping days.  We skipped the last two nights.  Thankfully Juliet is still somewhat predictable and I put her in a disposable diaper this morning until she pooped in her bouncy chair.

I’m sure things will change again soon as we have started attempting to feed Juliet solid food.  Emphasis on attempting.  We’re probably approaching the process all wrong, as we have been trying to feed her during our dinner time when she is likely overtired, but she is just not that into it.  Rice cereal was pretty much a fail, so after some time and two attempts, we moved on and tried a pea puree last night.  I’m not sure any of it actually got into her mouth.  Juliet was holding a spoon while she waited for her food and I couldn’t wrestle it away from her. Every time I tried to get my spoon of food near her mouth she would block it with HER spoon.  Sigh.  We have a couple more days to wait until we try a different food.  I’m looking forward feeding her some prunes so we can get her poop onto a regular schedule again.  I had a lot of fun making Hailey’s food, so I’m going to do the same thing for Juliet… but, she’s going to have to be willing to eat first!

Some other notes about cloth diapering:

* We currently have only 4 cloth diapers, which means doing a load of laundry every day (you have to wash them separately from regular clothes).  We are going to slowly build our stash as I figure out what kinds we like best.  Also, my very awesome mom is already making some.  Yes!

* Cloth diapers are super cute, even though they can also be super huge.  No more squeezing Juliet into 0-3 month onesies.

* I wish I had a video of my first attempt to put a cloth diaper on Juliet.  Because they are so adjustable, they have about a million snaps.  I was so very confused.  (Thanks for the help Christel – you are my diaper Yoda!).

* I’m keeping a count of how many disposable diapers I have saved (until I tire of keeping count, which will probably be soon).  So far we have saved 9, and I’ve only been cloth diapering for a few days and with a very limited supply!  Size 2 Pampers Swaddlers on Amazon Subscribe & Save are $0.19/diaper.  We’ve saved $1.71 so far.  (Okay, well we HAVEN’T, technically, because of the upfront investment in the cloth diapers, but you get the idea).

* I’ll post again about the cloth diapers and include some pictures and reviews.  I’m still way too new to have an informed opinion!

Throwback Thursday: Hailey’s Wackiest Outfits

From a very early age Hailey began choosing her own outfits.  I tried to dress her in coordinating shirts and cute little skirts, but she insisted on doing her own thing.  I gave up pretty quickly and figured that she should be able to express herself.  Since then she’s gotten a lot of attention when we’re out and is often mistaken for a boy.  She has fun and she certainly has come up with some interesting looks!  This gallery is a compilation of some of the most unique looks she has styled.  To be fair, she has also come up with a lot of pretty put together looks (with a Hailey spin), but those are for another gallery.

Without further ado, I present to you, Hailey, in all her glory:

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Throwback Thursday: The More Things Stay the Same, The More I Change

It’s Throwback Thursday!  So now it’s time for a little trip down memory lane, but first, this:

http://www.babble.com/relationships/being-a-stay-at-home-parent-is-a-luxury-for-your-spouse/

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been reading my old blog and using it as a manual for dealing with a new baby.  It’s pretty fun to see how similar Juliet and Hailey are.  They are meeting milestones around the same time, are almost exactly the same size and are even wearing the same clothes!  The thing that has changed is me.

It’s pretty easy look back and think, “Girl, you crazy…” but of course I didn’t know then what I know now and I have the gift of experience now.  Again, I’m having milk supply problems, but instead of measuring out formula to the millimeter, I just give Juliet what she wants.  We just opened up the What to Expect the First Year book for maybe the second time since she’s been born and kind of laughed at it.  I had already taken Baby and Me Yoga and two sessions of Mommy and Me by the time Hailey was five months old.  We haven’t taken any classes with Juliet, but I have the benefit of the mom friends I’ve already made with Hailey, and of course Hailey herself, to keep us busy.

I loved reading that I was about to start a Couch to 5K Program and was skeptical that in just a few short months I would be able to run 3 miles.  Who would have thought that in a few weeks I’ll be running by second half marathon?

It’s also fun to look back at the old pictures of Hailey and realize that I can hardly remember a time when she couldn’t talk.  It makes me wonder what kind of toddler Juliet will be.  Will she share Hailey’s unique sense of style?  Will she ask questions like, “Why isn’t that purple folder green?”  Will she inform me that Raisin Bran is good for my cardiovascular health, or will she be a more physically gifted child?  I know I can’t wait to hear them talking to each other.

And finally, reading the old blog has made clear to me that I’ve been viewing Hailey’s babyhood through rose-colored glasses.  I always tell people that Hailey was an amazing sleeper from day one, but it seems like we had the same problems with her that we’re having with Juliet.   I’m sure I also did all those activities because I didn’t know what on earth to do with a 5-month-old baby all day, and I still can’t quite figure it out.  Seriously – Juliet is amused by any one activity for all of 10 minutes and then she’s done.  She would be happy to be carried around all day, but yeah… I can’t even use the carriers much because she’s kind of an awkward size for them, and it’s like 7 million degrees in our house and she’s a sweaty baby.

Below is some Throwback Thursday cuteness.  I’m going to try to be productive with the few minutes I have left before Juliet wakes up (which will probably mean watching Bodie stalk squirrels Wild Kingdom style in the backyard and thinking about doing a yoga video.  Mental yoga – that’s a thing, right?).

  

     

               

Make it Work!

Hello everybody!  Once again, it’s been forever since I’ve posted.  Yeah, there’s a reason for that, and it’s called having two kids.  When you have a new baby you look back on your life before children and wonder what on earth you did with your spare time.  It’s like that with the second kid too.  What on earth did I do with my spare time when Hailey was napping or at school?  Now it seems like spare time is pretty much non-existent, but some days there are little miracles and I find time to make it to the computer.

Anyway, the long and short of it is that we’re all surviving.  I’ve learned that I can (somewhat) successfully deal with both kids on my own for a few days (Aaron had a business trip and we’re all still breathing), and even bathe them both on my own!  Who knew that it was such a logistical nightmare for one parent to get two young children bathed and in bed?  I’ve also been training for my half marathon coming up in a few weeks, and running 10+ miles every Sunday morning has been sucking some life out of me.  On top of that it seems to be party season and somehow everyone weekend until like, 2015 seems to be booked.  (Oh yeah, the dog needs eye drops 4 times a day and Hailey has homework now…).

A quick update on the children:  Juliet is doing well.  She stopped gaining weight for a while and I’ve now accepted that once again I have an inadequate milk supply (but at least it lasted for 5 months!) and Juliet requires some supplemental formula.  She is now a little over 13 pounds.  When she doubles her birth weight and can sit up a little better we will probably start solids.  Where does the time go?  She’s also started doing 360 degree rolls and is attempting to use this to get to things she shouldn’t have.  She started rolling from her back to her tummy first, which is the harder roll to master.  She’s still happy-go-lucky and will always answer a smile with a smile.  She has also started sleeping through the night on a fairly regular basis, which is beyond awesome. We haven’t quite nailed down a nap schedule yet, but we’re sort of moving in that direction.  It’s amazing how much less structured everything is with a second child…

Hailey is still nuts.  Every day she scares me with how much she knows and understands.  Yesterday she told me that owls sleep during the day and wake up at night because they are nocturnal.  She remembers everything and seems to understand some pretty advanced concepts.  This morning she badgered me relentlessly for ripping a bag open that had a ziplock.  (I didn’t even notice it…)  It’s pretty sad when you get outsmarted by your three-year-old on a regular basis.  She started a new year at preschool and is in love with her Jack Black-clone teacher, Mr. Blake.  We spend our free time playing dress up and pretending to be absolutely everything and everyone, but right now Hailey is almost always Grandpa.

I’ve realized that I really miss my blogging (I’ve been reading my old Hailey baby blog and using it as guide for all things baby-related… it’s incredibly comprehensive), but I know I can’t always keep up, so I’m going to experiment with some different things.  I may post some quick updates from my phone when I can’t get to a computer and someone does something hilarious, or I might practice my writing skills by posting about some other topics.  Now that I’m not working an office job I feel like my mind is slowly (or probably quickly) turning into mush. So, stay tuned and hopefully we’ll be back soon!

Thanks for hanging in – here are some cute photos:

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Super Baby!

Family love (with Hailey’s crazy eyes)

The first double-bath. When we took out Juliet, Hailey hopped right into the Whale tub…

Hailey’s first homework!

Arrrrr…..

I’m adorable!

Sister time!

The hair. Where did it come from?

Who wouldn’t be entertained by Hailey?

Official caption: Miss Juliet is 5 months old today! Unofficial caption: I just pooped!

Yeah, I can french braid now…

Splash pad!

This little bastard has taken over my nursing chair.